All Sauce from Weekly Sauce:

The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it will support a controversial proposal to waive patent protections for coronavirus vaccines, while the drug industry warned such a move would actually dampen the development of vaccines. The United States had been a holdout at the World Trade Organization over the proposal, which could give drugmakers around…  read on >  read on >

In two real-world studies, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine appears to be standing up well against the challenges posed by more contagious coronavirus variants from Britain and South Africa. The Pfizer mRNA vaccine showed about 90% documented effectiveness in protecting against infection with the British B.1.1.7 variant and 75% effectiveness against the South African B.1.351 variant, according…  read on >  read on >

Access to free or low-cost birth control may be an important factor in improving young women’s futures, according to new research from Colorado. When access to affordable birth control increased, the percentage of young women leaving high school before graduation dropped by double digits, while the rates of pregnancies and abortions also dropped. The study,…  read on >  read on >

Famed Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton may have suffered from a deficiency of the nutrient thiamine, a condition known as beriberi, say researchers who claim they have cracked this nearly 120-year-old mystery. Shackleton is known for his daring expeditions to Antarctica in the early 20th century. He experienced prolonged bouts of extreme shortness of breath and…  read on >  read on >

The United States could see a sharp decline in COVID-19 cases by the end of July, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Six research teams asked to project future COVID-19 trends have concluded that new infections will drastically drop in July and continue to fall through September,…  read on >  read on >